


Love, Like Ghosts

by whiteblankpage



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-31 16:54:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3985690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteblankpage/pseuds/whiteblankpage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The First Date</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Kurt goes on the- _“It’s not a date Rachel, don’t you dare lay a finger on my hair!”_ \- completely platonic coffee….something dressed in his highest boots, heart pounding like it’s the date he swears it isn’t. 

He’s readjusting his beetle pin, caramel latte chilling on the table when Adam slips into the chair across from him and smiles.

“That’s  _terrifying_ ,” he says, eyes catching on the pin and somehow the smiles widens. “The barista nearly threw that man’s coffee all down his front when she saw it.”

Kurt covers the beetle with his palm, wincing at the sound his boots make as they scarp across the floor. “I can take it off.”

Adam reaches over, pulling his hand off the pin. “Don’t you even _dare_ \- I didn’t think it was possible for you to be any more charming and yet….”

It takes Kurt a moment to realize they’re holding hands across the table, in a coffee shop that’s nothing like Lima Bean and his cheeks immediately flush with heat as he tugs his hand away.

“My friend Tina actually nailed me in the shoulder with her textbook the first day I wore it to school,” he admits, feeling bold. 

Adam throws his head back in a bright, genuine laugh. Kurt sips his cooling latte and tries not to feel too pleased at being the cause of that.

“Have you given any thought to joining The Apples?” he asks, scooting in closer to the table, voice thick with amusement. “No pressure, of course. I’d like to think we’d learn a lot from the former member of a nationally ranked show choir.”

“If you’d seen our performance last year,” Kurt says slowly, “you’d know I didn’t even get a solo at Nationals.”

Adam hums at him. “I also know that you received a standing ovation after being asked to perform at the Show Case of a highly selective school that you didn’t even attend at that time.”

Kurt watches him take a long sip of his coffee and says softly, “It sounds impressive when you say it like that.”

Adam pauses, mouth pursed over the rim of the paper cup as he stares across the table at him. “Kurt, it is  _entirely_  impressive.”

Kurt smiles, too easy and too nervous and that horribly familiar swooping feeling is back. He’s starting to think that even if it isn’t, he might want this to be a date.

Graciously, Adam waves a hand through the air, smiling pleasantly again- as if he knows Kurt’s uncertain. “Forget about The Apples for a moment. Tell me about yourself- your friend Rachel’s certainly made a name at NYADA, what with her rivalry with Miss July.”

“Rachel could get into a rivalry with the bathroom mirror every morning if I gave her the option,” Kurt says wryly. “She’s a certain type of person. You either adore her or fantasize about strangling her with her own hair.”

“And you?”

Kurt frowns. “I’m a certain type of people too. My- I guess my ex would tell you I’m high-maintenance, materialistic when it comes to fashion but I actually work part-time at Vogue.com right now. I like to think my need to be stylish worked out for the better in the end.”

“What does Vogue.com have to say about scarves?” Adam asks, sitting back to adjust the patchwork mess of fabric around his neck. Kurt thumbs at the edge on his coffee cup to keep from reaching out himself.

“Scarves are always fashionable- it’s the hat that’s pushing you over into hipster territory.”

Without a word, Adam tugs the hat off his head, hair messy and golden in a way Kurt wasn’t used to anymore. He tries not to breathe too noticeably when Adam winks at him. 

“Well, as you can probably tell, I’ve come to New York to study at NYADA, I have an undying appreciation for scarves and I’m honestly hoping the look on your face right now means you have a thing for blonds.”

Kurt sucks in a sudden breath. “Is this a date?”

Adam nudges his boots under the table gently. “I would be thrilled if it was, but if a friend is what you need right now…well, I’m a good listener when you can get me to shut it.”

Kurt has to look away, tingling right down to the tips of his fingers with excitement and anxiety. Fretful hands tug at the lines of his jacket, the palm of his hand skimming over the beetle pin one last time as he takes a deep breath and smiles at Adam.

“Split a slice of cheesecake with me and it’s a date." 

 -

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Now that we have firmly established that is a date- have you truly given any more thought to joining The Apples?” Adam asked, plucking gently on the string of his teabag. 

Kurt swiped a finger across the edge of his own coffee cup, scooping up a stray dollop of whipped cream and stuck it into his mouth with a small hum.  
“I’ve been informed that joining your Apples would be social suicide,” he said with a wry smile. “Not that I have much of a social life to off.”

Adam blinked at him, a distracted air about his gaze. 

“I’m going to assume it was your friend Rachel who warned you off joining us,” he said after a moment, smiling cheerfully despite the slight. “I can see why she’d assume that.”

Kurt eyed him suspiciously. “You’re being remarkably understanding about this.”

“Make no mistake, I still want you,” Adam said easily, smiling as Kurt’s eyes widened. “Rachel’s come off an unprecedented victory. People are going to idolize her just as much as they’ll wish she’d turn an ankle the day before her first Opening Night.”

Kurt wrinkled his nose at the thought. He was startlingly familiar with the range of emotions Rachel Berry could inspire in a person.

“When I came to NYADA, I was completely alone,” Adam said softly. “It’s an elite school- you can’t often plan to share a loft with your best friend.”

Kurt grinned.

“The first sign-up sheet I’d ever put up was ripped from my notepad on a whim. I was lonely but I knew I couldn’t possibly be the only person feeling that way.” Adam shrugged elegantly. “I had a full list by the next morning. Mostly stage hands and costume designers and the people who felt entirely under-appreciated. It was never about being popular or trendy- it was about creating a place where anyone and everyone could be themselves and be accepted for it.”

“Adam’s Apples?" 

To Kurt’s delight, Adam flushed. 

"No one’s ever really commented on it before! Surely they’d have said something before now.”

If they were anything like New Directions, Kurt had no doubt they would have.

“Truthfully? The whole 'freaks and geeks’ thing reminds me of my old show choir.”

“You mean the nationally ranked show choir,” Adam reminded him with a bright grin. Kurt wondered if he’d ever get used to the easy way Adam made him remember how to be proud of his accomplishments.

“We were pretty much a mash-up of popular kids and the social misfits of McKinley. We couldn’t have been any more different. A week didn’t go by when someone wasn’t going through some sort of relationship drama- Rachel had perfected the art of storming out before our first Sectionals.”

“But when we needed to, we came together seamlessly. We all fit somehow,” Kurt shook his head, missing the familiar warmth of the choir room. “I think the Apples are missing a little of that. You guys have amazing vocals and some level of dance ability but it doesn’t feel like you all really know how to be different together.”

Adam was staring at him, one elbow on the table top, chin perched on his open palm, as if he were something more. Kurt laughed, feeling self-conscious and gawky under that look.

“Of course, it’s not everyone who could turn a song about having a preference for big butts into something smooth and mellow and charming in it’s own way." 

"This is why I need you,” Adam said, sincere and serious. “You’ve managed to pick up just what I’ve been trying to figure out for the last four years in mere weeks.”

Kurt opened his mouth just as the text alert on his phone startled them both. Adam sat back.

“Real life strikes again?”

Kurt huffed a soft laugh. “More like Rachel’s managed to somehow lock herself out of the loft. I have to go let her in.”

Adam stood with him, draining the rest of his drink. “Will you allow me to accompany you to the train station at least? Second date perks.”

“You’d better.”

It was cold outside, still snowing even this late in January but their pace was slow, unhurried. Kurt dreaded the ever closer sign that meant he’d have to say goodbye and take the long train home to Bushwick.

They paused, just beside the subway stairwell. Adam smiled at him. “Well-”

“You mentioned something about a mash-up that was literally to die for?’ Kurt said quickly, steeling himself. Adam’s mouth closed with an audible click of his teeth. 

"Yes, I wasn’t sure if you’d be interested in listening to me babble on about it, so I didn’t bring the arrangement-”

“Bring it to the next Apples’ meeting and I’ll take a look over it,” Kurt said, a slow grin spreading across his face as he waited for Adam to get what he wasn’t saying.

He wasn’t disappointed.

“The next- you’ll come? You’ll join us?” Adam’s delight was infectious, bright-eyed and genuine. Kurt laughed and nodded.

Big warm hands cupped his face, palms hot against the red of Kurt’s cheeks as Adam pulled him in close.

“This is spectacular,” he muttered. “You’re wonderful." 

In the span of a blink, he leaned over and kissed him.

Kurt immediately lifted his hands to twist his fingers in the front of Adam’s coat, pressing into the kiss with a hum. 

Between them, his phone chimed again.

Adam pulled away, ducking his head as he kept his hands on Kurt’s jaw. "Rachel’s getting impatient.”

Kurt used the hands at Adam’s front to pull him in again.

“She can wait,” he said quietly, leaning in for another kiss. “Second date perks.”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted: Jan 2013

**Author's Note:**

> Posting everything I've written on tumblr because it's that kind of night.


End file.
